Barack Obama picks Senator Joe Biden as vice president running mate

The Democratic Party's presidential candidate has chosen Senator Joe Biden to
be his running mate in the election.

A party official broke the news late last night, pre-empting a planned announcement by text message to party workers and reporters.

The choice of Mr Biden, a veteran of congress with a 30-year history in the Senate, suggested that Mr Obama was keen to balance his own youthful, dynamic image with greater experience.

The Delaware senator, a working class Catholic by origin, has a substantial track record in foreign affairs - an area perceived as a weakness for Mr Obama by some political pundits.

A native of Pennsylvania, Mr Biden could also bring to the ticket some of the blue collar support that appeared to be slipping from Mr Obama in the later stages of his primary campaign against Hillary Clinton.

However, Mr Biden also carries some potential weaknesses that could upset the campaign over the next two and a half months before November's election.

He is known for verbose, gaffe-strewn speeches that have landed him in trouble with rival politicians. On one occasion he was caught lifting lines from a speech by Neil Kinnock, bringing an end to his 1988 bid for the presidency.

However, he might also be better able to launch the sort of hostile attacks on the Republican Party candidate Sen John McCain that would appear unseemly coming from Mr Obama.

Last night a McCain campaign official launched its first attack on Mr Biden, using comments he made during the presidential primaries.

Mr McCain's spokesman Ben Porrit said Mr Biden had "denounced Barack Obama's poor foreign policy judgement and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realising - that Barack Obama is not ready to be president."

The presidential candidate and his chosen vice presidential partner will campaign together late this evening in Springfield Illinois.